Whatever you do, don't fall asleep
by obsessionsofmrsp
Summary: Aiolia gets trapped in his own dreams. Story written for the Saint Seiya Fan Fiction Challenge - Halloween on Tumblr.


**In the uninhabited island of Falkonera, Greece**

First, there was the void. Aiolia was no strange to that, since him and the other Gold Saints were imprisoned after The Wailing Wall. But that void felt different.

When Athena gave him this mission, he wasn't sure what exactly he would find, but that was beyond any expectations for him and his goddess. She sent him alone, because he said he could handle that, but now he wasn't sure. The Leo Saint, always known for his fierceness, suddenly felt completely scared.

Then, there was the darkness. And unconsciousness.

He doesn't know for how long he passed out, but someone might have come for his rescue, because he was now back in the Sanctuary. That was not his temple, though, but it felt familiar.

 _1, 2, Freddy's coming for you_

Aiolia got up from the couch and felt weird. He was shorter, his hands and feet were smaller, it felt like he was a child again.

 _3, 4, Better lock your door_

He rubbed his eyes and recognized where he was. That was the Sagittarius temple, and he could see some brightness and hear some noises from Aiolos' room.

 _5, 6, Grab your crucifix_

The door was ajar, so Aiolia pushed it. The small TV was on, and it was showing "Nightmare on Elm Street". He remembered watching it with Aiolos once, but it left him so scared he had lots of nightmares that night.

 _7, 8, Gonna stay up late_

The Leo Saint walked slowly into the room and shivered. He could sense something was wrong there, but he kept walking. Suddenly he felt a drop on his forehead. And another. And another. When these drops flowed through his face, he could see they were red.

 _9, 10, Never sleep again_

When Aiolia looked up, he couldn't believe his eyes: Aiolos' lifeless body was glued to the ceiling, all shredded. His eyes were wide open and he had a horror expression in his chopped face.

Aiolia was about to scream when he heard an evil laugh. He looked at the TV again, and the object of his childhood nightmares had come to life again. Freddy Krueger was a few centimeters away from him. So he ran.

He ran as fast as he could, but as a child he wasn't able to reach the speed of light. He tried to find the exit, but the Sagittarius temple had become a labyrinth. Everywhere he looked, there was Freddy, ready to attack him, so he decided to stop and fight him.

The Leo Saint tried to light up his cosmos and hit the monster, but Freddy felt nothing and laughed at him.

"Come to Freddy, little boy! Your big brother can't save you now!"

That was it. Aiolia took a few steps behind but felt helpless. His time had come.

 **Athena's Sanctuary, Greece**

Athena was sitting on her throne. Her eyes were closed as she was concentrated, trying to feel the cosmos of one of her saints.

"Aiolia..." she whispered "He's in danger!"

She opened her eyes and contacted two other saints.

"Dohko and Mu. I need you to come to me now."

In a few minutes, the Libra and Aries Saints were in front of her goddess. They kneeled before her.

"What can we do for you, my goddess?", Mu asked

"It's Aiolia. I sent him to Falkonera island in a mission. I knew his opponent would be dangerous, but he insisted in going alone."

"Aiolia. When will you learn?" Dohko said.

"We don't have time for it, Dohko. You must go immediately and find him. He's facing someone really powerful and if you don't get there in time, he will be dead."

"Do you know who is it, Athena?" the youngest saint in the room asked.

"At first, I didn't, but now I do. It's Ikelos."

"So, we're going to have to..."

"Yes. You know what to do, Mu. And you know what part Dohko must play in it too. Go now. We're running out of time!"

"Let's go, Dohko!"

He held the elder's hand and teleported to Falkonera.

 **Falkonera, a few seconds later**

Dohko and Mu arrived at the island and tried to feel Aiolia's cosmos. It took them a few seconds, because it was really weak.

They ran and found Aiolia unconscious on the floor. He was shaking.

"Aiolia! Aiolia! Wake up!" Dohko tried to wake his fellow saint.

"It's useless, Dohko. What we have to do here, is much more complicated. Aiolia is being attacked by Ikelos, the god of nightmares."

"Are you telling me..."

"Yes. We must enter Aiolia's mind and fight Ikelos from there."

"How is it possible?"

"Athena sent me here because I would know what to do. I will prepare a potion with some African Dream Root and a strand of Aiolia's hair. This will take us directly to his nightmare."

"I'll go. You stay here in case anything goes wrong." Dohko said.

"Fine! One more thing. You are only there to help Aiolia. He's the one who should kill Ikelos, or it won't work. His weaknesses are silver and lamb's blood."

"How in the world am I going to get this inside Aiolia's head, Mu?"

"Just help him unleash his imagination. The rest is up to him."

Mu handed the potion to Dohko. The second drank it in one gulp. A few seconds later, he was on the floor by Aiolia's side.

 **Sagittarius temple, inside Aiolia's nightmare**

Freddie was approaching little Aiolia, moving his razors in front of him and laughing. Aiolia was in the corner of the temple, shaking. Suddenly someone screamed from behind.

"Hey, asshole! Why not mess with someone with your own size?"

Freddy growled and turned to Dohko.

"What are you doing here, Libra Saint?"

"I came to kill you."

"You know you can't."

"But the little boy over there can!"

Dohko was trying to feel confident, but he was really surprised to see Aiolia as a little kid. This was going to be harder than he expected.

"Aiolia, look at me!" Dohko shouted

"Who are you? Why are you dressed as a Gold Saint? I have never seen you here! Aiolos is on the ceiling! He killed him!" Aiolia cried.

"No! Aiolos is alive and well at the Sanctuary. This is a dream, Aiolia! Please help me here! Only you can get us out of here!"

Aiolia looked at Dohko, confused. Ikelos, still as Freddy, started running towards Dohko.

"I'm going to kill you, Dohko!"

The sound of Dohko's name made Aiolia remember: the island, the mission, the void.

"I can't believe I almost fell for your schemes, Ikelos! Dohko, please, throw me one of your weapons!"

Dohko threw his lances to Aiolia. When it reached the Leo Saint's hand, the weapon was transformed into a silver machete.

"Quick, Aiolia! He's reaching me!"

Aiolia ran to Aiolos' room. The illusion was still there. His brother's body on the ceiling. He shivered, but mumbled to himself "It's only a dream". He soaked the machete in his brother's blood. The lamb who sacrificed his life for Athena. "This should do".

When Aiolia went back to the hall, Ikelos was above Dohko, preparing to kill him. He quickly reached them and cut Ikelos in half with the machete. The god's body disappeared and he fell to his knees. Both him and Dohko fainted on the floor.

 **Falkonera island**

"Are you alright?" Mu's voice sounded distant as the two gold saints woke up.

"Mu! I'm fine! It's so good to see you!" Aiolia answered as he opened his eyes slowly. "My fellows thank you for rescuing me!"

"You should learn, boy! It's ok to need help sometimes. You don't need to be so self-sufficient!"

Aiolia looked down ashamed as he heard Dohko's words.

"Let's go back to the Sanctuary."

"Aiolia, I'm curious." Dohko started "Why Freddy Krueger?"

"I think Ikelos read my oldest fear. Once, when I was little, I watched Freddy's movie with Aiolos and I was so scared I had lots of nightmares that night. Of course he also knew that losing Aiolos (again) is my biggest fear nowadays."

"That explains it all." Dohko concluded.

"Shall we go, fellows?" Mu asked.

"Yes, please! I need to hug my brother." Aiolia said.

Dohko smiled. The Leo Saint would always be a kid in his heart.


End file.
